[SlantStrong]

Last season's 8-3 record was only the stepping stone to what the Cougars return in 2012. Morgan county returns their entire backfield in Holbrook( RB SR. 3 year starter), Whitt(FB SR. 3 year starter), Thornsberry( RB JR. 2 year starter), Collins( QB SR. 2 year starter). The only senior that graduated from the skill was Kerrick Kidd. Leading rusher for 2011 Holbrook and Best offensive back award winner for 2011 Jordan Whitt return to field alot of experience for the 2012 Cougar football team. Best offensive lineman award winner for 2011 JT Brown( 6-3 240 JR.) returns to anchor the offensive line. The Cougars return the entire core of their defense with Walker Crase( SR. 4 year starter, Defensive MVP, Team's leading tackler) anchoring an experienced unit. Crase(LB SR. 4 year starter), Whitt(LB SR. 3 year starter), Holbrook(LB/DB SR. 4 year starter on defense), Thornsberry( DB JR. 3 year starter on defense), JT Brown( JR. DL. 1 year starter) all return for the Cougar defense which had 3 shutouts and 8 blocked punts last season. This year's senior class for the Cougars finished in the state middle school final 4 playoffs @ Lexington Catholic as 8th graders before losing to John Hardin 22-14. Morgan's JR. class finished state runner-up as 8th graders losing to Somerset in the state middle school championship game at Lexington Catholic with an over-all 13-2 record. The BEST is yet to come for the Morgan county football program.

[WideRight05]

From what I looked up on Morgan, it looks like they have had some up and down years this past decade with last year being one of their up years. The key to being consistently good is getting a strong feeder program put in place. It looks like if their 8th grade is doing so well, hopefully they have that and will continue to produce good players and teams. Looks like this will be a very strong team this year. Best of luck to Morgan County.

[SlantStrong]

New coaching staff took over 3 years ago. Before that they had 3 coaches in 3 years, no consistancy. The first year under new staff they went 2-9 playing all freshmen basically and a 19 game losing streak inherited. The 2nd year(soph dominated) Morgan went 5-5 reg. season losing to Middlesboro in the playoffs.(5-6 overall) Year 3 Morgan finished 8-3 with a strong JR class, hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history. Consistancy is the key and the coaching staff will be entering year 4 with the same system and philosophies. From little league to middleschool to high school, everyone is on the same page. Middleschool runs the same O and D as the high school, they finished with a 7-3 record this past season. 5th and 6th grade team ran the same O and D as the high school, they finished with a 7-2 record. Morgan has got the football program headed in the right direction, Consistancy and everybody at every level being on the same page has enabled success.

[Always_A_Lion]

I'm glad to see the Cougars going in the right direction and hope they become a force in the 3A class. I hope this was the first of many postseason home games for this program.

[elite eleven]

glad to see cougars are going in right direction and good young coaches takin interest and puttin in yhe time to make the difference stay strong cougars!

[NEWARKCATHOLICFAN]

I hope Morgan can better last season.

[IceQB]

The 8-3 record is a little misleading. They have obviously improved some but the record of their opponents was 37-82 (with Breathitt County accounting for 12 of those wins the remainder of the schedule was 25-81) not exactly a stellar group of opponents. When they are competitive with a few winning teams I will be more likely to give them a little more credit. I would like to see them play the likes of Russell or some similar program and see how they fair. I know they played Lawrence in the playoffs and lost in the first round. Don't get caught up in middle school success, that doesn't always translate into varsity success.

[SlantStrong]

The 8-3 record is a little misleading. They have obviously improved some but the record of their opponents was 37-82 (with Breathitt County accounting for 12 of those wins the remainder of the schedule was 25-81) not exactly a stellar group of opponents. When they are competitive with a few winning teams I will be more likely to give them a little more credit. I would like to see them play the likes of Russell or some similar program and see how they fair. I know they played Lawrence in the playoffs and lost in the first round. Don't get caught up in middle school success, that doesn't always translate into varsity success.

Nothing misleading about 0-19 to 8-3.

[Witch Doctor]

I heard they had an opportunity to play in the Pike County Bowl at Belfry. Would have been a great opportunity for that program to take the next step. Play at Cam stadium with a huge crowd. The Morgan players would have been exposed to great football tradition.

[Farmerg]

I think they will improve upon this years success. They need to find a true certified person for d coordinator that knows how to properly prepare for your better opponents and they will be fine. Really looking forward to some more DW. Go Cougars!:Cheerlead

[SlantStrong]

I think they will improve upon this years success. They need to find a true certified person for d coordinator that knows how to properly prepare for your better opponents and they will be fine. Really looking forward to some more DW. Go Cougars!:Cheerlead

LOL.....ok. Most shut-outs in school history, gave up the least amount of points in a season in school history, 8 blocked punts(school record) on the season. Not to mention the 20+ hours spent every weekend breaking down film and preparing scouting reports.

TOP 15 TEAM SCORING DEFENSIVE LEADERS
(playing a minimum of 9 games)
(ranked by net points allowed average)
School Gmsa Pts Avg
Paducah Tilghman 12 119 9.9
... Breathitt County 12 131 10.9
Bell County 12 146 12.2
Belfry 12 155 12.9
Edmonson County 12 180 15.0
Lewis County 11 167 15.2
Fort Campbell 12 188 15.7
Central 12 216 18.0
Garrard County 12 232 19.3
Morgan County 11 213 19.4
Monroe County 12 236 19.7
Powell County 12 236 19.7
Russell 12 238 19.8
Trigg County 11 236 21.5
Bourbon County 12 267 22.3

TOP 15 TEAM RUSHING DEFENSIVE LEADERS
(playing a minimum of 9 games)
(ranked by rushing yards allowed average)
School Gms Yds Avg
Paducah Tilghman 12 792 66
... Edmonson County 12 1183 99
Bell County 12 1296 108
Breathitt County 12 1316 110
Belfry 12 1469 122
Casey County 11 1350 123
Central 12 1486 124
Monroe County 12 1550 129
Fort Campbell 12 1553 129
Trigg County 11 1424 129
Russell 12 1588 132
Powell County 12 1676 140
LaRue County 11 1543 140
Bourbon County 12 1689 141
Morgan County 11 1566 142

TOP 15 TEAM PASSING DEFENSIVE LEADERS
(playing a minimum of 9 games)
(ranked by passing yards allowed average)
School Gms Yds Avg
Hart County 11 639 58
... Monroe County 12 820 68
Fleming County 11 763 69
Breathitt County 12 848 71
Belfry 12 872 73
Corbin 12 907 76
Morgan County 11 877 80
Russell 12 981 82
Fort Campbell 12 998 83
Powell County 12 1014 85
Garrard County 12 1116 93
Wayne County 12 1120 93
Edmonson County 12 1124 94
Trigg County 11 1047 95
Paducah Tilghman 12 1168 97

[F.N.L.]

I think they will improve upon this years success. They need to find a true certified person for d coordinator that knows how to properly prepare for your better opponents and they will be fine. Really looking forward to some more DW. Go Cougars!:Cheerlead

This coment is obviously made by a someone in Morgan. Very pathetic coment on your behalf. Total disrespect. The stats above are from the khsaa web page, so in all reality Morgan county's defense was actually pretty good. Breathitt was the only true black mark but they left black marks on alot of schedules. Yes, the Engineers did beat them but Estill county should have fielded a very good football team this season and they played to their capabilities vs. Morgan. Being a former coach I don't think most understand the time it takes to break down game film and prepare a scouting report. It takes your entire weekend and hours of hours of time. Morgan's defense was the best statistically in school history. But from what I hear Farmerg, you may just get your wish.irateSho

[dawgs1]

I was surprised by Morgan. They were better then I thought they would be. I thought Lawrence county would win easy but it was a very tough game. From what I saw the Morgan defense kept them in it. They really had our boys down early in the game and was about to go up on us two scores but on third down and looked like an inch Morgan threw the ball and we intercepted it. This really changed the momentum of the game and got the Dawgs fired up. Morgan hurt us with a run up the middle play but they kept running the same play the whole game and in the second half the Dawgs shut it down. Morgan had one of the few defenses all year that could really slow Jacob down.

[toomuch]

I think they will improve upon this years success. They need to find a true certified person for d coordinator that knows how to properly prepare for your better opponents and they will be fine. Really looking forward to some more DW. Go Cougars!:Cheerlead

Morgan's defensive stats were pretty good. They had some good ratings. Sounds like from the coment, another morgan coach wrote that. From what was said that coment definately came from within.

[wingnut]

Make no mistake about who is making this post. My name is Brian Scott Turner. I am the head coach at Morgan County High School. I usually do not post on these boards; but when something directly affects our program and the feelings of my awesome coaches, I feel it is appropriate.

We ARE NOT looking for a new defensive coordinator. We just came off the best season, statistically, in school history. We did that with JOHN FUGATE implementing a new defense, which we felt fit our personnel and gave us the best chance to win. We believe we can be better next year, as we learn the defense and our younger players continue to learn, lift weights and get stronger, and gain more playing experience.

We basically have two head coaches: I call the offense; John Fugate calls the defense. Every coach has input, but when decisions have to be made related to in-game calls-those are the two men who make most of them.

This is not to diminish the crucial role that Will Noble and Mark Easterling have on our staff. We are a small staff, but we all work hard to prepare our kids. These men have also helped me with the middle school and youth programs here in the county. They have given a lot to our kids, and I strongly RESENT anyone who tries to insinuate that they are getting the job done.

We ARE looking for good quality assistants, certified or not.

Please don't use a chat board to hide behind and try to create friction and speculation. In the Morgan football family (players and coaches), we are working hard to have a good positive program for the benefit of our student athletes.

If you need any true positive info related to Morgan football, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Go Cougars, 2012!!

[wingnut]

Cougar football in 2012:

We started lifting weights ten days following our loss to Lawrence in the playoffs. We started with 57 kids in the weightroom. A few of them figuured out it was a lot of work and weeded themselves out. A few others went on to baseball workouts with our assistant football and HEAD BASEBALL Coach, Mark Easterling. So, we know they are in good hands. We are, right now, averaging about 34 in the weightroom consistently. That is up from 3 to 4 last year.

As this thread began, on a very positive note: we are excited to return most of our offensive stat leaders and a good chunk of our defensive players. We will have holes to fill on the offensive line, at ILB, and at corner. However, everybody usually graduates some kids that can play. We are thrilled that AUSTIN ARNETT and ELI HANEY are eligible and working very hard in the weightroom. Eli is a very solid lineman and kicker. Austin is a good runner and was named the defensive MVP of the KYMSFA all-star game. He started as a FR and will be back next year for the Cougars.

Coach Fugate has had a surgery and needed some time away to heal. Coach Easterling is busy with baseball. So, I run the weightroom along with help from Will Noble and Nick May, (a college student who volunteers with our program).

Things are going well and we are very pleased with the work our kids are putting in right now in the Cougar Den. We are looking forward to the weight meet at Raceland. We took 8 kids last year, and this year we may be able to enter two (20 player) teams.

We play in a tough region and our kids are starting to "get it" that if we want to even compete with the elites of 3-A football, we must train in the off-season.

[IceQB]

As you improve the program are you seriously looking to upgrade your schedule over the next few seasons? I would say that going into the postseason with some games against quality opponents under your belt would be a benefit. I also know that in a program where winning is not the norm you need to get kids used to winning even if it is against lesser competition. Who do you look to add to the schedule?

[SlantStrong]

Morgan County Football 2011
Morgan County 394 213 ( scored 394 gave up 213) Final stats for 2011
Morgan County 300 219 ( final stats for 2004)
Morgan County 320 220 (final stats for 2005)
Morgan County 231 299 ( final stats for 2006)
Morgan County 95 536 (final stats for 2007)
Morgan County 84 540 (final stats for 2008)

[SlantStrong]

As you improve the program are you seriously looking to upgrade your schedule over the next few seasons? I would say that going into the postseason with some games against quality opponents under your belt would be a benefit. I also know that in a program where winning is not the norm you need to get kids used to winning even if it is against lesser competition. Who do you look to add to the schedule?

Honestly, a big majority of teams would not schedule us that we had played in years past. When your the whippin' boy and having to play freshmen, they will beat your brains out BUT when those freshmen get to be jr's or sr's the same people wont play you anymore. 2009 began the "building" process. 2010 Morgan showed improvement and won the Sorghum bowl for the first time in 15 years and EARNED a playoff spot. 2011 Morgan tied the most wins in school history and hosted a playoff game for the first time in school history. Statistically 2011 was the best offensive and defensive stats put up in school history. The same lesser competition as you say has beaten Morgan in past years. Going from 0-19 to 8-3 was contributed to alot of hard work and dedication. It was as bad as it could get( losing 19 games in a row) to now being an 8-3 football team and hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history. Alot of the scheduling was beyond Morgan's control, some teams simply wouldn't put us back on their schedule.

[IceQB]

I was not trying to be negative with the "lesser competition" comment. Just saying if they have risen above those teams who used to beat them on a regular basis and they do not want to play Morgan anymore then who do they look to add to the schedule? I am not saying they need to add 5 top notch programs to the schedule just maybe add 1 or 2 legit teams and grow from there. Maybe Russell or Raceland or Pikeville or someone of that caliber. I am not suggesting they take on an Ashland or Belfry or Johnson Central. Just maybe a little upgrade

[wildthang3]

What's the chance slant strong is a MC coach. I say very likely.

[thecoacher]

What's the chance slant strong is a MC coach. I say very likely.

I am guessing he is the defensive coordinator.

[wildthang3]

I am guessing he is the defensive coordinator.

I was thinking the same thing.

[wingnut]

A few thoughts on Morgan schedule:

Boyd-(4-A) Should be considered a quality opponent for Morgan;
Pendleton-(4-A) Northern KY school, coached by New-Cath grad;
Middlesboro-(2-A)- Took a lot of guts for Morgan to invite them to Sorghum Bowl after taking a 49-7 whipping from them the year before;
Jackson, Knott, Breathitt, and Magoffin-District games;
Estill-A quality 3-A team; makes for an interesting match-up due to the fact that I learned the offense from them; student-master concept;
East Carter-3-A team that Morgan has played for many, many years;
South Floyd-1-A team that was/is very physical and plays hard with a good coach and very much improved.

Morgan's (Spring) enrollment was at least 7th from the top of 2-A schools; however, re-alignment was based on Fall numbers. Morgan will be going right back to 2-A football in the next re-alignment. So, considering the history at Morgan-where it was in 2008 (0-19) with 9 total players returning; what is so horrible about Morgan going 8-3 playing that schedule?

Schedule will be the same for 2012, as they were all two year contracts.

[thecoacher]

Coach, I have no issue with your schedule. You have done a great job getting the program back on track. I think if you do as well or improve over the next few years, then you would look to change your schedule. Right now, you are doing a great job winning games and getting some excitement back in your program.

[SlantStrong]

I am guessing he is the defensive coordinator.

I am guessing Fleming county has a coach on here.

[thecoacher]

I am guessing Fleming county has a coach on here.

I would say that is accurate.

[wingnut]

Verbal Commitment from Tyler Conley that he is coming back to football next year. This is huge! Tyler played a major role in Morgan's 16-1, state final four finish in 2008 KYMSFA. Tyler played a lot as a freshmen and was banged up for most of his sophomore year, and did not play his junior year, but he has stayed "in" sports as a baseball player. Tyler is big, strong, and a naturally tough, aggressive kid. He knows the DW offense, and is a punishing tackler on defense. Most importantly he is a good kid and a GREAT teammate. Awesome news!!

[wingnut]

I heard they had an opportunity to play in the Pike County Bowl at Belfry. Would have been a great opportunity for that program to take the next step. Play at Cam stadium with a huge crowd. The Morgan players would have been exposed to great football tradition.

This was mentioned as a possibility, but Morgan's 2011-12 schedule was all done with two year contracts. I played at Belfry in 1989 and came away with a hard-fought win, but Coach H. and the Pirates got the one that mattered at Breathitt in the playoffs.

I remember big plywood signs nailed in trees alongside the road for ten miles heading into Belfry. I think one said, "Welcome to Death Valley" followed by "Entering on a bus, leaving in a hearse, Breathitt" Awesome high school football environment and tradition at Belfry.

[SlantStrong]

common sense
Equipment Manager
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 56
Likes: 1
Liked 8 Times in 4 Posts
I heard yesterday Belfry vs. Harrison Co again and Pikeville vs. Morgan Co. Not exactly stellar.(posted by Common Sense)



I saw this on another thread, I do not believe this is correct. Morgan has a 2 year contract with the teams from last years schedule as far as I know.
Is there anything to this coach?